Let’s learn a little about the spirit of Humboldt. Deutsche Welle on his 250th birthday in 2017:
He was fluent in the principal languages of the old and new world, and lived through long periods of his busy life in the most important European cultural centers such as Paris, Rome, London, Vienna and Berlin. Even though he was sometimes in the shadow of his well-traveled brother Alexander, he was equally significant, especially for his pioneering work as an education reformer.
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As he reformed an antiquated curriculum, Humboldt insisted that teachers and university professors should be an “advocate for the education of young people.” Systematic learning and holistic education through art and music were just as important as mathematics to the training of the mind, according to Humboldt.
The ability to think critically would be more important than strict vocational training. “Knowledge is power and education is liberty,” was Humboldt’s credo.
When Wilhelm von Humboldt died in Berlin-Tegel on April 8, 1835, he left behind a powerful new school of thought. His ideal was to nurture educated, confident citizens, independent of their class or family background.
These educational ideals could serve as a model for present-day school and education policy in Germany. But regional political interests and packed curricula – which still have their origin in the strict Prussian administration – stand in the way. Humboldt’s cosmopolitan, liberal-minded educational philosophy remains a utopian ideal in Germany.
And trans ideology isn’t helping.
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12 responses to “The ability to think critically would be more important”
So true. And we have moved so far from that.
On my bedroom wall in a prominent location I have an elaborate, beautiful cross-stitch which says “Knowledge is Power.” Although I used to cross-stitch, it’s not my doing — and I no longer remember where I got it, it’s been so many years. Probably an antique store or flea market. I sometimes wonder about the woman who crafted it (I’m assuming it was a woman.) A school teacher, maybe, or perhaps someone who loves the arts & sciences. A rebel living by her wits. Someone simply wanting to practice calligraphy, or hoping to gift it to a college-bound child.
And now I get to imagine an old German woman who loved Wilhelm Von Humboldt.
I’m getting “The Adventures Of Alexander Von Humboldt”, a graphic novel that combines text written by Andrea Wulf, author of the 2015 Humboldt best-seller, “The Invention of Nature”, with illustrations by artist Lillian Melcher, as a gift for my 12 year old nephew.
She speaks highly of Humboldt in this video “The Anthropocene” (2017, 47:10 minutes, https://youtu.be/AW138ZTKioM) which is notable for perspective.
Whenever I see the name “Humboldt” all I can think of is
“Temporarily Humboldt County” from Firesign Theatre.
http://www.firezine.net/faq/fst-humboldt.html
Oddly, that’s not what comes immediately to my mind when I hear “Humboldt.”
Perhaps some of my youth was misspent. But I think it’s probably more fun to misspend your youth than to misspend your dotage.
(I posted this already, but it seems to be lost in the aether.)
What it brings to my mind is the Humboldt Current, the Chilean counterpart of the California Current, bring cold and fog to the coast. Also Humboldt University, once the glory of East German academia (still good, of course, but now it has more competitors than it had in the glorious days of the German Democratic Republic).
Humboldt: Is nobody else thinking of squid? Ravenous attack squid with a taste for human blood?
Just me, then.
No, me too, latsot. I always think ‘squid’ before the other Humboldts. And now I really want a plate of calamari.
I thought of Alexander von Humboldt as well and really recommend Andrea Wulf’s biography. He’s little known in the UK – nothing is named after him, unlike in the Americas. He was a pioneer in ecology with a holistic view of nature. A very remarkable man.
KB, are you telling us that Alexander Palace and Crewe Alexander Football Club weren’t named after Humboldt? You’ll be claiming that transwomen are not, in fact, women next…oh, hang on :-))
I disagree, Papito. I am thoroughly enjoying mis-spending my dotage, because (unlike in my youth) I have nothing to lose.
The joy of mis-spending one’s dotage is that one has generally accumulated the experience and knowledge to mis-spend it well.